Research themes

CENTRAL is a research centre with significant expertise in four areas. We work with the private, public and third sectors to find solutions to problems or questions they face.

Aviation and Air Transport

The efficient and safe movement of passengers and goods via air transport is an incredibly important part of the global economy. There has been a rapid increase in demand for air transport services, which existing airport and air-space capacity cannot meet. CENTRAL researchers are focused on finding ways to unlock this fundamental problem.

On behalf of private, public and government clients, we are developing models that determine the capacity of the various components of the air transport system, estimating operational impact, making optimum use of available resources, providing efficient solutions for addressing the demand-capacity imbalance, and optimising fleet scheduling and maintenance decisions.

Aviation and Air Transport projects

Current Projects
- 2015-2021 - Mathematical Models and Algorithms for Allocating Scarce Airport Resources (OR-MASTER), Programme Grant, Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC) – Konstantinos G. Zografos (PI)
Past Projects
- 2016-2018 - An Optimization Framework for Trajectory Based Operations (OptiFrame), Horizon 2020 / SESAR – Konstantinos G. Zografos (PI) and Guglielmo Lulli (CoPI)
Projects which CENTRAL staff have participated in
- 2011-2013 - “Assessing the Educational Gaps in Aeronautics and Air Transport” (EDUCAIR), European Commission, Directorate General for Research and Innovation (DG RESEARCH) (Konstantinos G. Zografos)
- 2006-2009 - “Supporting Platform for Airport Decision-Making and Efficiency Analysis – 2 (SPADE 2)”, European Commission, Directorate General Energy and Transport (DG TREN) (Konstantinos G. Zografos)
- 2006-2009 - “European Airport Movement Management by A-SMGCS – 2 (ΕΜΜΑ 2)”, European Commission, Directorate General Energy and Transport (DG TREN) (Konstantinos G. Zografos)
- 2006-2009 - “Reduced Separation Minima (RESET)”, European Commission, Directorate General Energy and Transport (DG TREN) (Konstantinos G. Zografos)
- 2004-2006 - “Supporting Platform for Airport Decision-Making and Efficiency Analysis (SPADE)”, European Commission, Directorate General Energy and Transport (DG TREN) (Konstantinos G. Zografos)
- 2004-2006 - “Cooperative Approach to Air Traffic Services (CAATS)”, European Commission, Directorate General Energy and Transport (DG TREN) (Konstantinos G. Zografos)
- 2003-2006 - “European Airport Movement Management by A-SMGCS (ΕΜΜΑ)”, European Commission, Directorate General Energy and Transport (DG TREN) (Konstantinos G. Zografos)
- 2002-2004 - “Aviation Policy information Resources based on Observatory Networks (APRON)”, European Commission Directorate General Energy and Transport (DG TREN) (Konstantinos G. Zografos)
- 2000-2002 - “Thematic Network for Airports (THENA)”, European Commission, Directorate General Energy and Transport (DG TREN) (Konstantinos G. Zografos)
- 1999-2002 - “Operational Benefit Evaluation by Testing an A-SMGCS (BETA)”, European Commission, Directorate General Energy and Transport (DG TREN) (Konstantinos G. Zografos)
- 1999-2002 - “Optimization Platform for Airports, including Land-side (OPAL)”, European Commission, Directorate - General Energy and Transport (DG TREN) (Konstantinos G. Zografos)
- 2002-2003 - “Creating viable concepts for Combined Air/rail Cargo Transport (CO-ACT)”, European Commission, Directorate General Energy and Transport (DG TREN) (Konstantinos G. Zografos)
- 1999-2001 - “Development of a plan for the organization and management of the Greek Airports System”, Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications-Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority (Konstantinos G. Zografos)
- 1996-1999 - “Management of Surface Traffic in European Airports (MANTEA)”, European Commission, DG XIII (Konstantinos G. Zografos)
- 1996-1997 - “Total Airport Performance and Evaluation (TAPE)”, European Commission, DG VII (Konstantinos G. Zografos)
- 1996-1997 - “New Optimisation Approaches to Air Traffic Flow Management (NOAA)”, European Commission, DG VII (Konstantinos G. Zografos)

Freight Transport Logistics

Freight Transport Logistics focuses on the planning, organisation, management, control and execution of freight transport operations in the supply chain. CENTRAL researchers have worked on problems facing decision-makers who want to improve freight transport system performance. They are: the optimisation of freight transport planning and operations; vehicle routing and scheduling with environmental and societal considerations; and hazardous materials transportation. We are developing mathematical models and algorithms that capture the inherent dynamics and stochasticity of the problems.

Freight Transport Logistics projects

Projects which CENTRAL staff have participated in
- 2008-2011 - “Benchmarking Logistics for Co-modality” BE LOGIC, funded by the European Commission, DG TREN (Konstantinos G. Zografos)
- 2006 – 2010 – Green Logistics, Awarded by the Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC) – (Part of a consortium with Universities of Leeds, Heriot-Watt, Cardiff, Southampton, Westminster.) (Richard Eglese)
- 2003-2006 - “Advanced Real-Time Services in the Transport Sector (ARTTS)”, Greek Ministry of Development - General Secretariat of Research and Technology (Konstantinos G. Zografos)
- 2003-2006 - “An Integrated Decision Support System for Providing Real-Time Transit Information in a Multimodal Transportation System (ENOSIS)”, Greek Ministry of Development - General Secretariat of Research and Technology (Konstantinos G. Zografos)
- 2002-2004 - “Economic growth and sustainable Mobility supported by IST at REgional including SMEs (EMIRES)”, European Commission, Directorate General Information Society (DG INFSO) (Konstantinos G. Zografos)
- 2002-2003 - "Business, Policy and Research Implications of Logistics in the e-Economy Environment” BPR-Logistics, sponsored by European Commission DG INFSO (Konstantinos G. Zografos)
- 2000-2003 - Creating viable concepts for combined Air/rail Cargo Transport CO-ACT, funded by the European Commission DG TREN (Konstantinos G. Zografos)
- 2002-2003 - "Maritime Intelligent Systems for Transport and Inter-related Chain” MISTIC, sponsored by European Commission DG INFSO (Konstantinos G. Zografos)
- 2000-2001 - "Effects on Transport of Trends in Logistics and Supply Chain Management” SULOGTRA, funded by the European Commission DG TREN (Konstantinos G. Zografos)

Public and Shared Transport Systems

CENTRAL researchers have been tackling problems of shared transport systems and multimodal itinerary planning. On behalf of our clients, we are addressing issues related to strategic, tactical and operational decisions in (electric) car-sharing systems. We are also working on mathematical models and efficient algorithms for solving multimodal, multi-criteria, international, and door-to-door trip planning systems.

Public and Shared Transport Systems projects

Past Projects
- 2012-2014 Development and evaluation of a one-way carsharing scheme for Veolia Auto Bleue System, Veolia Transport, Nice, France – Burak Boyaci (PI)
- 2011-2014 “Enhanced Wide Scale Network of E-systems for Multimodal Journey Planning and Delivery of Trip Intelligent Personalised Data” (Enhanced WISETRIP), European Commission, Directorate General for Research and Innovation (DG RESEARCH) – Burak Boyaci (PI) and Konstantinos G. Zografos (CoPI)
Projects which CENTRAL staff have participated in
- 2012-2014 Development and evaluation of a one-way carsharing scheme for Veolia Auto Bleue System, Veolia Transport, Nice, France (Burak Boyaci)
- 2011-2014 “Enhanced Wide Scale Network of E-systems for Multimodal Journey Planning and Delivery of Trip Intelligent Personalised Data” (Enhanced WISETRIP), European Commission, Directorate General for Research and Innovation (DG RESEARCH) (Konstantinos G. Zografos)
- 2008-2010 “Wide Scale Network of E-systems for Multimodal Journey Planning and Delivery of Trip Intelligent Personalised Data (WISETRIP)”, European Commission, Directorate General Information Society (DG INFSO) (Konstantinos G. Zografos)
- 2004-2005 “Coordination of Concepts for New Collective Transport (CONNECT)”, European Commission, Directorate General Energy and Transport (DG TREN) (Konstantinos G. Zografos)
- 2000-2002 “The World in your Hands on the Move (WH@M)”, European Commission, Directorate General Information Society (DG INFSO) (Konstantinos G. Zografos)
- 1998-2000 “Travel and Tourism Information on the WWW (wTwTw)”, European Commission, Directorate General Information Society (DG INFSO) (Konstantinos G. Zografos)

Emergency Response Logistics

Large scale technological and natural disasters require the effective planning and deployment of emergency response resources, which are the responsibility of a diverse set of public and private organisations. Done well, emergency response makes a big difference to society’s ability to cope effectively with the negative impacts of large-scale disasters, contributing to improvements in community resilience.

CENTRAL researchers are tackling diverse issues related to the location of emergency response units, the coordinated deployment of emergency response resources, and evacuation management, and the assessment and improvement of community resilience. In particular, we are looking at the development and implementation of models that are able to forecast the temporal and spatial characteristics of disasters, the optimum scheduling of emergency response crews, and the optimisation of evacuation operations in large-scale disasters.

Emergency Response Logistics projects

Current Projects

RESPOND-OR
Past Projects
- 2017-2019 “Achieving Operational Excellence in Disaster Management and Emergency Response” (ORDER) – Juliana Sutanto (PI)
- 2017-2019 “The Framework for Community Resilience Assessment and Measurement” (FRAME) – Juliana Sutanto (PI)
- 2019 - Accelerating Impact for Disaster Management and Emergency Response (AIDE-Response) - Juliana Sutanto (PI) and Konstantinos G. Zografos (CoPI)
FRAME

The Framework for Community Resilience Assessment and Measurement (FRAME) aims to address the problem of community resilience and sustainability under regular and crisis situations in South East Asian countries. To achieve this aim, an integrated framework for assessing and measuring community resilience in South East Asian countries will be developed.

FRAME focusses on Sustainable Cities and Communities (SDG 11). Community resilience is one of the major pillars of SDG 11. One of the key targets of SDG 11 is the significant reduction of deaths and the number of people affected and the significant decrease of economic losses caused by disasters with focus on protecting poor and vulnerable populations (Target 11.5).

FRAME addresses directly this target, while it cuts across a number of other Sustainable Development Goals including: Good Health and Wellbeing (SDG 3), Clean Water and Sanitation (SDG 6), Affordable and Clean Energy (SDG 7), Industry Innovation and Infrastructure (SDG 9), Climate Action (SDG 13) and Partnerships for the Goals (SDG 17).

ORDER

Indonesia is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world. It is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where the Indo-Australian, the Eurasian and the Pacific plates meet. Natural hazards include earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, landslides, and volcanic eruptions.

ORDER strengthens the interdisciplinary research collaboration between UK researchers specialising in quantitative methods for disaster management and information systems, and Indonesian researchers and practitioners in disaster management. Based on mathematical models for decision support and integration of siloed information systems, disaster risks can be mitigated and resources for both preparedness and recovery used more efficiently. The results of our research will benefit all stakeholders involved in and/or affected by large scale natural disasters. Specifically, our results will help: i) governmental and non-governmental organisations to increase the cost-effectiveness of their emergency management operations, ii) to reduce the negative implications to the population residing in the impacted areas, iii) reduce negative environmental and economic impacts.

AIDE Response

Professor Zografos (PI) and Professor Sutanto (Col) organised a workshop in the United Nations Conference Centre in Bangkok, Thailand on 9-10 January 2019. The workshop is within the framework of Accelerating Impact for Disaster Management and Emergency Response (AIDE-Response) project funded by EPSRC GCRF Global Impact Accelerator Account.

The workshop was attended by representatives from ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance (AHA Centre), disaster management authorities of the three most vulnerable countries in the region (Philippine, Indonesia, and Myanmar), non-governmental organisations that are actively involved in disaster management and response, and UN agencies (FAO, UNESCAP, UNICEF).

The workshop participants highlighted the institutional and technical barriers in disaster emergency management decisions and the potential enablers to overcome the barriers – among which is a Decision Support System (DSS) that incorporates static and dynamic data to propose course of actions such as logistics routing and evacuation plan. Besides beneficial in terms of increasing the timeliness, accuracy, and consistency of the decisions made, the participants pointed out some other potential impacts of a DSS which is the consideration of the requirements of population groups with special mobility needs in the decisions made especially with respect to evacuation, increase security and safety of the responders, and useful for post-action assessment.
Projects which CENTRAL staff have participated in
- 2001-2003 “Safety Improvement in Road & rail Tunnels using Advanced ICT and Knowledge Intensive DSS (SIRTAKI)”, European Commission, Directorate General Information Society (DG INFSO) (Konstantinos G. Zografos)
- 1998-2001 “A DSS for Hazardous material Logistics”, Greek General Secretariat on Science and Technology, Second Operational Program of Research and Development (Konstantinos G. Zografos)
- 1998-1999 “Integrated Incident Management. Emergency Healthcare and Environment Monitoring in Road Networks (IN-EMERGENCY)”, European Commission, Directorate General Information Society (DG INFSO) (Konstantinos G. Zografos)
- 1997-1999 “Development of a Decision Support System for Large Scale Technological Accident Emergency Planning”, Ministry of Environment Public Works and Region Development (Konstantinos G. Zografos)
- 1996-1999 “Incident Response with on line innovative sensing (IN-RESPONSE)”, European Commission, DG XIII (Konstantinos G. Zografos)
- 1996-1997 “Application Research and Testing for Emergency Management Intelligent Systems (ARTEMIS)”, European Commission, DG XIII (Konstantinos G. Zografos)
- 1991-1992 “A Model for Predicting Emergency Response Crew Requirements Under Severe Service Disruption Conditions”, Florida Power & Light (Konstantinos G. Zografos)
- 1989 “Integrating Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Technology in Planning Emergency Response Services", Florida Power & Light (Konstantinos G. Zografos)

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